Rep. Tiffany Statement on Continued Gray Wolf Listing by USFWS, Calls on House to Pass Trust the Science Act
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressman Tom Tiffany (WI-07) released the following statement after U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) announced no changes to the gray wolf’s listing status under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
“The Biden administration’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announcement to make no changes to the status of the Gray wolf under the Endangered Species Act is misguided and fails to recognize the harm the species has caused in places like Wisconsin,” said Congressman Tom Tiffany. “The Gray wolf population has recovered, and it’s time for the House to pass the Trust the Science Act to remove the gray wolf from the list of federal endangered species and return management power back to states.”
The Trust the Science Act passed out of the House Natural Resources Committee on April 28, 2023 and requires the Secretary of Interior to reissue the 2020 Department of the Interior final rule that delisted gray wolves in the lower 48 United States. It also ensures that the reissuance of the final rule will not be subject to judicial review by activist judges like the California judge who vacated the rule in 2020 and unilaterally relisted the gray wolf by judicial fiat.
In 2020, the Department of the Interior and the USFWS delisted the gray wolf in the lower 48 United States through a process that included the best science and data available. At over 6,000 wolves at the time of delisting, the gray wolf has been the latest Endangered Species Act success story with recoveries with significant populations in the Rocky Mountains and western Great Lakes regions.
In fact, even with the announcement today, the USFWS highlighted that its “analysis indicates that wolves are not at risk of extinction in the Western United States now or in the foreseeable future.”
Yesterday, Rep. Tiffany also sent a letter along with colleagues from the Natural Resources Committee to the USFWS about the listing status of wolves and the agencies new “National Dialogue”. This new proposal could impact state’s management plans and could be a tool for the agency to relist wolves in the future.
The full text of the Trust the Science Act is available here.
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